There Is Something Inside, It Wants to Get Out

by Madeline McDonnell

Fiction. THERE IS SOMETHING INSIDE, IT WANTS TO GET OUT is the brief and stunning debut by fiction writer Madeline McDonnell. In these technically surprising and lyrically astounding stories, the reader meets three haunted, singular, and unsettled protagonists—Wednesday, Mary, and Lucy—who are up to and up against all sorts of horrendous and hilarious trouble. The reader will discover in this trinity a deeply intelligent, comic, and chaotic view of consciousness, pleasure, and shame along with a panic-inducing proposal, cancer-basketball, and a series of passionate car crashes. Perhaps more importantly, the reader will fall for McDonnell's poetic touch and her absolute attention to the magic of the sentence.

Genres: Short Stories

79 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Madeline McDonnell is the author of three books of fiction, including Lonesome Ballroom (Rescue Press, 2024). She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow, and has taught creative writing, literature, and composition courses at many places, most recently the MFA program at Portland State University. She lives in Oregon with her family.

Reviews

[Edan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madeline McDonnell, the author of this gorgeous and beguiling little book, is one of my closest friends, and she's my writing buddy, so there's no way of being objective here. I've read earlier drafts of two of these stories, and the third I knew about, but had never read. I so delight in McDonnell's prose: in her sensual observations, her language play, her descriptions of sky, light, the body, the heart. These are three stories about three lost women. They are funny, surprising, weird, and sad stories, and each one took my breath away by its end. I am so honored to know Madeline, and to get to share my work with her, and to have her share her work with me.

She has promised me the first draft of her novel by next spring, and I know it's going to melt my face off with its brilliance and beauty. I can't wait for the whole world to get it. In the meantime, read this gem of a book!

[Ethel Margaret]

My full review is at Gently Read Literature

Is it possible to be derisive and compassionate? McDonnell’s acumen makes the unseemly unification natural. The characters are impregnated with many antithetical drives that find easy cohabitation. The result is that protagonists Wednesday, Mary, and Lucy, as well as the others we meet, are a lush and intriguing set. Their banter can be both humorous and barbed. Their love is laced with mild disgust. Yet McDonnell harbors her characters from vilification. They are ambitious and self-directed, but they are navigating the world without a blueprint and sometimes falter. Herein lies their charm.

[Patrick Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Madeline McDonnell's writing. The three stories in this collection are sharp and biting, yet somehow manage to be full of warmth at the same time. This is no easy feat to pull off. I like McDonnell's prose to Lorrie Moore's. It has that same great funny/sad element that makes for good reading.

My one complaint is that, in the middle story -- regarding a girl suffering simultaneously through cancer treatments and her father's involvement with her gym class (It's arguable which is more arduous for her) -- there is the phrase "He dribbled the rebound." It was the lone false moment in the entire book. But very forgivable!

This is a great book to take with you on a flight. You'll sit down, take off, read through it, laugh, maybe cringe (at the situations, not the writing) and then land. Perfect. I can't wait for the next book from McDonnell.

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once sat next to Madeline toward the back of a seminar (either Offutt or D'Ambrosio's?) during which she drew a house emitting thick projectile tears in which there were smiley faces (which also may have been crying). At that point I hadn't read much of her stuff but I suspected her drawing revealed a tendency to depict joyful sorrrows (and sorrrowful joys) in all their simple natural complexity . . .

[Stephen Gallup · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn't often that I reach the end of a book and immediately turn back to the beginning and start over. Granted, in this case that involves no big commitment, since the book is quite slim. Still, the number of pages is deceptive. There's a lot in here, and the telling is so lovely that I just wanted to appreciate it thoroughly.

There are only three stories in this collection, all about characters who have something lurking inside them. In the first, the most obvious hidden something is the hard-to-break news that Wednesday (that's the girl's name) has agreed to marry a guy her mother detests. In the second (my favorite), there's a small but persistent tumor. In the last one, there's a fetus. But in each case, there is more. There are deeper secrets, which the author's masterful handling suggests without entirely exposing.

My first exposure to There Is Something... was at a reading the author gave last month. My first comment when it was over was that we will be hearing more about Madeline McDonnell. Wait and see.

[Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeline McDonnell's debut book includes three short stories: Wife, Physical Education, and Trouble. I went to her book reading at Prairie Lights in Iowa City and she read Physical Education to us.

Physical Education remains my favorite of the three stories, though each is deep in a different way to show the lives of the protagonists. She uses interesting language and makes each character real.

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed it for Vol.1: http://vol1brooklyn.com/2011/03/22/bo...

[Clifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are terrific stories. We'll be hearing more from Madeline McDonnell.

Here's a link to my full review: http://perpetualfolly.blogspot.com/20...

[Joy]

This author went to (and taught at) the Iowa Writer's Workshop which produces many good writers.

[Art Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my forthcoming review of There is Something Inside, It Wants to get out at The Collagist soon. I'll repost here.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review is at my Iowa Cityscapes blog.